Magnetic disks and disk drives are conventionally employed for storing data in magnetizable form. Preferably, one or more disks are rotated on a central axis in combination with data transducing heads positioned in close proximity to the recording surfaces of the disks and moved generally radially with respect thereto. Magnetic disks are usually housed in a magnetic disk unit in a stationary state with a magnetic head having a specific load elastically in contact with and pressed against the surface of the disk. Data are written onto and read from a rapidly rotating recording disk by means of a magnetic head transducer assembly that flies closely over the surface of the disk. Preferably, each face of each disk will have its own independent head. Because the read-write heads can contact the disc surface during operation, a thin layer of lubricant is coated on the disc surface to reduce wear and friction.
Magnetic thin-film media, wherein a fine grained polycrystalline magnetic alloy layer serves as the active recording medium layer, are generally classified as “longitudinal” or “perpendicular,” depending on the orientation of the magnetic domains of the grains of the magnetic material. FIG. 1(a) shows a disk recording medium and a cross section of a disc showing the difference between longitudinal and perpendicular recording. Even though FIG. 1(a) shows one side of the non-magnetic disk, magnetic recording layers are sputter deposited on both sides of the non-magnetic aluminum substrate of FIG. 1(a). Also, even though FIG. 1(a) shows an aluminum substrate, other embodiments include a substrate made of glass, glass-ceramic, NiP/aluminum, metal alloys, plastic/polymer material, ceramic, glass-polymer, composite materials or other non-magnetic materials.
A conventional longitudinal recording disk medium is depicted in FIG. 1(b) and typically comprises a non-magnetic substrate 10 having sequentially deposited on each side thereof an underlayer 11, 11′, such as chromium (Cr) or Cr-alloy, a magnetic layer 12, 12′, typically comprising a cobalt (Co)-base alloy, and a protective overcoat 13, 13′, typically containing carbon. Conventional practices also comprise bonding a lubricant topcoat 14, 14′ to the protective overcoat. Underlayer 11, 11′, magnetic layer 12, 12′, and protective overcoat 13, 13′, are typically deposited by sputtering techniques. The Co-base alloy magnetic layer deposited by conventional techniques normally comprises polycrystallites epitaxially grown on the polycrystal Cr or Cr-alloy underlayer. A conventional perpendicular recording disk medium is similar to the longitudinal recording medium depicted in FIG. 1(b), but does not comprise Cr-containing underlayers
Lubricants are either applied to the recording media by a vapor phase lubrication process or by a dip coating technique. When lubricants are applied using a dip coating technique, the lubricant is dissolved in a solvent at low concentration, and the media are dipped into the solution and withdrawn, or the solution is pumped over the media and then drained away. As the media are lifted or the solution drained a meniscus of solution is dragged along the disc's surface, and as the solvent evaporates a thin film of the nonvolatile lubricant is left on the disc. The amount of lubricant in the film is controlled through varying either the concentration of lubricant in the solution or the rate at which the media is lifted or the solution drained, or both.
One or more additives are typically added to the lubricant to promote the mobility of the lubricant. During the course of this invention, it was discovered that the prior art lubrication processes result in a lubricant film structure having separate phases of the additive and the lubricant. Therefore, improved recording media and a process for manufacturing the recording media is needed to avoid the problems associated with the media manufactured by the prior art lubrication processes.